Demolition began Monday morning on the OU Motel, an over 75-year-old affordable housing complex remembered for its impact and struggles in later years.
Lucy Sharp, one of the motel’s owners, hopped in the excavator to make the first dent in the roof of what was formerly room 216.
Wiping tears away, Sharp said it was hard to deliver the first blow to a place that helped so many people struggling with housing.
“It’s just nice to have given someone a chance,” Sharp said. “The OU Motel should be remembered as giving people a chance when they needed it the most.”
Room 216 was home to Mayor Stephen Tyler Holman when he was about four years old. Though he lived there for less than a year, he remembers their unit, watching the “Alien” movie and the sound of the train on the tracks behind their room. He visited room 216 on Sunday.
“That's always stuck out my whole life,” Holman said. “I've always remembered that as far as being there — and every time I've driven past it, I've always looked over there, and I've always remembered what unit it was, and always wanted to go look in there again.”
Motel residents varied from short to long-term, and Holman said it functioned as cheap, temporary housing for his family before they could move to a more permanent home.
Sharp flew in from Houston to see the motel come down. She talked about her late father, Dudley Crawford Sharp, who bought the motel about 40 years ago.
“Incredible emotions. I mean, I came last night… I’m crying,” Sharp said. “(I) was able to kind of sit, talk to my dad and tell him thank you for doing this. You know, thank you for buying it and giving it a chance and having this to be a place where people could be when they were at their hardest place in life.”
The demolition, initially scheduled to begin Sept. 1, was delayed to remove contaminants from the building. Jim Benson, the property’s off-site manager, told the Daily all contaminants are cleared.
Benson told OU Daily last month the vacant building was a liability and had repeated break-ins. He said the property’s best use is for redevelopment.
Holman said he’d like any new development to better protect the floodplain on the south side of the property and address affordable housing needs in Norman.
“It would be great to work out something like that for the future of that property and continue what that property has stood for for so many years,” Holman said.
Sharp hopes the seven-acre property will become an entertainment and sports space where families and students can gather for OU football, live music and yard games. She imagines a sports bar, volleyball court and park.
“It’s a new beginning, and that’s what I want to see from this place,” she said. “I want to see a new beginning, something that can really pull Norman, the community, together.”
The motel’s history
The OU Motel opened in October 1949 as a traditional motel. Sharp said it began to accept long-term residents soon after opening, and became known as an affordable housing complex. Sharp said her father, Dudley, partnered with the city to subsidize rent for lower-income residents.
After Dudley died, the motel fell to her and her two older sisters’ care and she said the city partnership ended. None of them live in Norman, so Benson managed it. Sharp said it fell further into disrepair and they were forced to take out multiple loans.
As the motel neared closing, it cost about $15,000 a month to keep it open, Sharp said.
“It got to the point where it's like, we can't pay to keep this open,” she said.
Sharp said choosing to close the motel was difficult and emotional.
In January 2025, residents received eviction notices giving them one month to vacate their apartments. Many residents struggled to find living options as affordable as the motel, and lamented long struggles with housing and homelessness.
Leaning against the motel balcony, Seth Houston overlooked the van he’s had to sleep nights in with his wife, three sons and niece.
The motel officially closed Feb. 1, 2025.
“I wonder where those people are now, and how many of them ended up homeless,” Holman said. “How many of them might be homeless even today?”
Sharp said they closed the motel in anticipation of a sale to Terry Moore of the Garrett Moore company about to be finalized. Moore planned a luxury student housing complex, but backed out of the deal due to rising costs of development and materials. A few other sales began but also failed to go through, leading to the decision to demolish the building.
“I get emotional,” Sharp said. “I mean, it's nice to… I've been able to help so many people for so long that needed the help until we just couldn't do it anymore. … My dad had a huge heart, and the fact that’s what was important to him. I love that we could keep it going. But there's an end to every good thing.”
This story was edited by Audrey McClour and Spencer Windholz.
